LRWQCB Meeting Invitation 9.13.18Please attend the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board Meeting on
Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 8:30am
at Lahontan Water Board Annex 971 Silver Dollar Avenue, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150
to support South Lake Tahoe’s Water Suppliers request for groundwater contamination cleanup.
South Lake Tahoe PCE Groundwater Contamination
ISSUE:
• 72% of the water supply in South Lake Tahoe is under threat from PCE contamination.
• Immediate steps are necessary to protect South Lake Tahoe’s drinking water supply.
• The community of South Lake Tahoe should not bear the cost to clean up the groundwater
contamination caused by the polluters.
REQUESTED ACTIONS:
• Extract PCE from groundwater as soon as possible to prevent another public water supply well
from being contaminated.
• Provide replacement water sources for Lukins Brothers Water Company to replace water supply
lost to PCE contamination. Proposed solutions include wellhead treatment and new wells.
• Provide replacement water sources for Tahoe Keys Water Company to replace water supply lost
to PCE contamination. Potential solutions include wellhead treatment and new wells.
• Install and monitor sentinel wells between the PCE plume and uncontaminated wells adjacent
to the PCE plume (see attached map). If plume spreads to adjacent wells, the majority of South
Lake Tahoe’s community water supply will be contaminated.
BACKGROUND:
• South Lake Tahoe water suppliers (South Tahoe Public Utility District, Lukins Brothers Water
Company, and Tahoe Keys Water Company) rely wholly on groundwater.
• In 1989, PCE was discovered in groundwater. PCE is a manmade chemical used from the 1960s
to 1980s as a solvent for dry cleaning clothes and degreasing metal. Federal and State agencies
listed PCE as a carcinogen and toxic pollutant in 1980s.
• The PCE plume continues to grow from its original location at a dry-cleaning business located at
the intersection of Highways 50 and 89. As of March 2018, groundwater monitoring
documented the plume at approximately 400 acres.
• In the decades since PCE was discovered, the plume has contaminated 7 wells. South Tahoe
PUD and Tahoe Keys have installed treatment systems. Lukins Brothers stopped using impacted
wells and is temporarily supplementing the lost capacity with water purchased from South
Tahoe PUD. Lukins Brothers is in the process of installing a treatment facility at one of its
impacted well sites.
• The impact of the plume poses a serious human health threat. Rate payers have already paid to
study, monitor, and mitigate some of the contamination.
• The financial burden of studying, monitoring, and cleaning up the pollution should fall on the
polluters, not the community of South Lake Tahoe.
• Holding the polluters accountable is important, but must be done in parallel with protecting
South Lake Tahoe’s community water supply from further contamination.
• For more info on South Lake Tahoe’s groundwater go to www.stpud.us/groundwater
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Bayview Well (40%)
Al Tahoe Well (10%)
Paloma Well (0.2%)
Sunset Well (7%)
Map Created 8/17/2018
0 2,000 4,0001,000 Feet
Wells Shown Accounted for 72% of South Tahoe's Public Water Supply for Water Year 2017
Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe PCE Groundwater Contamination
PCE Ground WaterContamination Extent
TK1 Well (3%)
TK2 Well (6%)
LB4 Well(0% due to PCE)
LB5 Well(0% due to PCE)
LB1 Well (3%)
TK3 Well (3%)
57% of South Tahoe's Public Water Supply for Water Year 2017
LB2 Well(0% due to PCE)